When a defendant in the probation context wants to waive counsel, the record must show that the probationer was made aware of the nature, extent, and importance of the right to counsel as well as the necessary consequences of waiving such a right.
Appeals
Rokita, Indiana Attorney General v. Berry Global Group, and Haitian Center of Evansville, No. 25A-MI-2817, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jul. 27, 2026).
Indiana Code section 4-6-3-3 authorizes our attorney general to issue an “investigative demand”—commonly referred to as a “civil investigative demand,” or “CID.” However, there must be an investigation otherwise the CID is unenforceable.
Parksey v. State, No. 25A-PC-2268, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jul. 6, 2026).
Mandatory lifetime parole is a direct, as opposed to collateral, consequence of a plea to voluntary manslaughter and that a defendant is entitled to be advised regarding this consequence before pleading guilty.
Sharon Parsons, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Timothy Parson, et al. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Comp. & Danielle Benjamin, et al., No. 25A-CT-2307, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., Jun. 22, 2026).
Bound by precedent from our Supreme Court construing similar pollution provisions in insurance policies, we find that because the Crum & Forster policy did not unambiguously identify methanol as a pollutant, the trial court erred in applying the TPPL part to the Parsons’ claims.
Masterson v. State, No. 25A-CR-2176, __ N.E.3d __ (Ind. Ct. App., June 16, 2026).
A probationer’s lack of fault does not bear on whether a violation occurred but only on the sanction imposed.